Clothes washing installation



Oct. 18, 1938. A pYNE 2,133,903

CLOTHES WASHING INSTALLATION Filed March 22. 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 18, 1938. A. H. PYNE 2,133,903

CLOTHES WASHING INSTALLATION Filed March 22, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //v VE'JV TOE. J74 @1576 7'//. Py/vE Patented Oct. 18, 1938 CLOTHES WASHING INSTALLATION Albert Henry Pyne, Beckenham, Kent, England Application March. 22, 1938, Serial No. 197,464 In Great Britain August 12, 1936 9 Claims.

This invention has reference to clothes washing installations for laundries. It is the practice to give the clothes an initial soaking or breakdown in the washing machine, a stage which occupies ten minutes or so before subsequent processes can proceed in the machine. In the present invention it is-the object to enable loading and break-down of a batch to proceed simultaneously with the washing of another batch in the washing machine by the provision of a pre-soaking or preliminary receptacle for the breakdown stage in communication with the washing machine. liminary receptacle will be in the charge of separate operatives, the invention includes means located at the washing machine for controlling delivery from the break-down receptacle, hereinafter called the preliminary receptacle, in such a manner that the latter cannot be emptied until a transfer chute, conveyor belt or equivalent means is correctly positioned in the washing machine and locked in position. It is also preferred to allow the operator at the preliminary receptacle end to set or sub-control his delivery by means of a subordinate operating device as will appear later. In this manner the contents of the preliminary receptacle cannot be released into the transfer chute unless the latter has been connected with the washing machine, and until the operator loading the said receptacle signifies by setting the mechanism that all is ready.

The said invention consists essentially of a clothes washing installation for laundries which comprises in combination a Washing machine, a preliminary receptacle for the treatment of the clothes prior to loading them into the washing machine, a transfer chute or equivalent for conveying clothes from the preliminary receptacle to the washing machine, power means for rotating or otherwise moving said preliminary receptacle from a loading position to a position wherein its contents are discharged to the chuteor the like, means for bringing the chute or the.

like out of or into delivery engagement with the washing machine, and a master control device for said power means located at or near the washing machine,

A further economy may be effected by disposing adjacent the preliminary receptacle a second container, of much less capacity, for bleaching solution, and arranging that the contents of the bleaching receptacle are discharged and conveyed to the washing machine simultaneously with those of the preliminary receptacle, and by the same control and actuating means.

As the washing machine and pre- Such an extra arrangement is particularly useful when dealing with the so-called bag-wash laundry wherein batches of mixed washing are received and these may contain one or more articles requiring treatment in a bleaching solution. It 4 is the current practice to load the whole batch direct into the washing machine and to bleach in the machine, necessitating the use of the comparatively large volume of the washing machine for bleaching solution.

The invention is particularly intended for dealing with bag-wash laundry, although not con fined thereto. An embodiment will be described, by way of example, wherein aplurality (e. g. eight, twelve or so forth) of individual batches or bags of mixed articles are dealt with in one wash. The bleaching as wellas pre-soaking or separate break-down may be carried out in the manner hereinbefore outlined. In the following embodiment it will be seen that the control and actuating means is through the medium of a compressed air or fluid motor, but it is to be understood that any equivalent devices (e. g. electrical or mechanical) may be substituted.

The aforesaid embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example in greater detail with the aid of the accompanying drawings wherein- Figure 1 is a front elevation;

Figure 2 is a side view with the washing machine in section; and

Figure 3 is a diagram showing the control or operating arrangements.

According to the said embodiment the washing machine I is disposed on one level, and the preliminary receptacle 2 (which in this case is solely a break-down receptacle) on a higher level, for example on the next floor, and the delivery from one to the other is by gravity through a closed chute 3. As is usual with bag-wash laun- 1 dry, the washing machine is divided into a requisite number of compartments by transverse partitions la so that each individual batch occupies a separate compartment. It is to be understood that the preliminary receptacle or receptacles (e, g. break-down drum 2 and bleaching drum when used) are similarly divided, (as at 2a) the compartments of these drums corresponding to the compartments of the washing machine, there being separate conveying passages in the main chute 3 between the individual compartments of the drum and their corresponding compartments of the washing machine I.

The preliminary receptacle 2 is in "the form 1 of a' cylindrical drum, open longitudinally. along its periphery, and rotatably mounted in a discharge hopper or casing 4 from which leads the conveying chute 3 with its plurality of passage ways referred to previously. The chute 3 terminates above the washing machine but is furnished with a continuation or section 5 pivoted thereto which may occupy a position swung up clear of the washing machine as shown in broken lines at 5a, or alternatively swung down with its extremity just inside the outer fixed casing 6 of the machine I. This latter is the delivery position.

The master control device is carried on the extremity of the swingable continuation 5 of the discharge chute, and consists of a compressed air supply valve 1 in which the valve spindle is pressed for opening by lug or the like 8 on the locking bar 9 disposed at the door of the washing machine and used to retain the chute section 5 in the delivery position. Thus the said chutesection 5 must be lowered into the discharge position and the locking bar operated before the valve I is opened, locking of the chute and operation of the valve being simultaneous. The chute section 5 is moved by means of the handwheel l0, and balancing springs H are used to assist upward movement and hold the section in its two alternative positions.

The said supply valve 1 constituting the master control device is included in a pipe line l2 leading to an air cylinder 13 which is the motor for turning the preliminary receptacle 2. One arrangement is for the motor l3 to oscillate a toothed quadrant l4 geared with a toothed wheel l5 on the preliminary receptacle. The quadrant moves against the action of the spring Hi to rotate the drum into the discharge position.

The supply of air to the said motor l3 enters from a source connected at I! through the control valve 1 via an adjustable needle valve l8 while it exhausts via another needle valve l9 to and through an exhaust valve 20 under the control of the operator on the higher level. The compressed air feed is also made to by-pass both needle valves at 2|, direct to the controllable exhaust valve 20. By this arrangement, the motor is operated from the lower level in the manner aforesaid only when the exhaust valve 20 is shut. Otherwise the air passes straight through and out of the exhaust valve 20. Accordingly until the higher operator shuts the exhaust 20, the preliminary receptacle 2 cannot be rotated for discharging into the hopper 4. The exhaust valve 20 may be provided with a whistle 22 or other audible indicator whereby the attention of the higher operator is drawn to the fact that the exhaust valve 20 is left open, should this be inadvertent, and that the washing machine operator is ready to receive the batches.

In operation, the higher operator receiving the individual bags, empties them into the respective compartments of the preliminary receptacle 2. When loaded, the lower operator brings about the dischargeinto the conveyor chute 3, 5 and thereby into the corresponding compartments of the washing machine I. The higher operator may then open the exhaust valve to return the receptacle 2 to the loading position, and carry on loading another lot of batches whilst the washing machine is in operation,

Ultimate unloading from the washing machine may be accomplished in any suitable manner, and an unloading chute is shown at 23.

I claim:

1. A clothes washing installation for laundries comprising in combination a washing machine, a preliminary receptacle for the treatment of the clothes prior to loading them into the washing machine, a transfer means for conveying clothes from the preliminary receptacle to the washing machine, power means for moving said preliminary receptacle from a loading position to a position wherein its contents are discharged to the transfer means, means for bringing the transfer device out of or into delivery engagement with the washing machine, and a master control device for said power means located at or near the washing machine.

2. A clothes washing installation according to claim 1 wherein the master control device is adapted to be actuated as and when the transfer means is locked in its position of delivery engagement with the washing machine, and the discharge movement of the preliminary receptacle is sub-controlled by a subordinate operating device located near the preliminary receptacle and effective only when the master control has been actuated.

3. A clothes' washing installation according to claim 1 wherein the preliminary receptacle is a horizontal rotary drum disposed at a higher level than the washing machine and has a peripheral feed opening, and the transfer means for delivering the contents of the said drum by gravity'to the washing machine is a chute including an upper discharge hopper in which the drum is mounted, and a lower pivoted section which may be swung clear of the washing machine or brought, into delivery engagement therewith with its extremity just inside the feed opening of the outer fixed casing thereof.

4. A clothes washing installation according to claim 1 wherein the preliminary receptacle is a horizontal rotary drum disposed at a higher level than the washing machine and has a peripheral feed opening, and the transfer means is a chute to deliver the contents of the said drum by gravity to the washing machine, said chute including an upper discharge hopper in which the drum is mounted, and a lower pivoted section which may be swung clear of thewashing machine or brought into delivery engagement therewith with its extremity just inside the feed opening of the outer fixed casing thereof, and a locking bar at the feed opening of the washing machine for the purpose of locking the pivoted section of the chute in delivery engagement with the washing machine.

5. A clothes washing installation according to claim 1 wherein the preliminary receptacle is a horizontal rotary drum disposed at a higher level than the washing machine and has a peripheral feed opening, and the transfer means is a chute to deliver the contents of the said drum by gravity to the washing machine, said chute having an upper discharge hopper in which the drum is mounted, and a lower pivoted section which may be swung clear of the washing machine or brought into delivery engagement therewith with its extremity just inside the feed opening of the outer fixed casing thereof, characterized also by the provision of a locking bar at the feed opening of the washing machine for the purpose of locking the pivoted section of the chute in delivery engagement with the washing machine, means being provided on the locking bar to actuate the master control device simultaneously with the locking of the transfer chute in its delivery position.

.6. In a clothes washing installation according to claim 1 the provision of a fluid motor as the power means for moving the preliminary receptacle, a fluid admission valve for operating said motor being located at the washing machine, and constituting the master control device.

'7. A clothes washing installation according to claim 1 wherein the master control device is adapted to be actuated as and when the transfer device (i. e. a chute) is locked in its position of delivery engagement with the washing machine,

and the discharge movement of the preliminary ating device for the fluid motor effective after the master control admission valve has been opened.

8. A clothes washing installation according to claim 1 wherein the master control device is adapted to be actuated as and when the transfer device (1. e. a chute) is looked in its position of delivery engagement with the washing machine, and the discharge movement of the preliminary receptacle is sub-controlled by a subordinate operating device located near the preliminary receptacle and efiective only when the master control has been actuated, the power means employed for moving the preliminary receptacle being a fluid motor, a fluid admission valve for operating said motor located at the Washing machine, and constituting the said master control device, and an exhaust valve for the fluid motor located at the preliminary receptacle, and manually operable to constitute the subordinate operating device for the fluid motor effective after the master control admission valve has been opened, said exhaust valve operating an audible indicating de-' vice.

9. A clothes washing installation according to claim 1 wherein the preliminary receptacle is a horizontal rotary drum disposed at a higher level than the washing machine and has a peripheral feed opening, and the transfer means is a chute to deliver the contents of the said drum by gravity to the washing machine, said chute having an upper discharge hopper in which the drum is mounted, and a lower pivoted section which may be swung clear of the washing machine or brought into delivery engagement therewith with its extremity just inside the feed opening of the outer fixed casing thereof, said means for rotating the drum between its loading and discharge positions comprising a toothed quadrant adapted to be oscillated by a compressed air or fluid motor and geared with a toothed wheel on the axle of the said receptacle.

ALBERT HENRY PYNE. 

